Take on me
by Vegeta and Kazuya are so hot
Summary: Another VxB, but this is completely different to any other story you're likely to read. Wow, I know, I updated at last! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Hello! I'm back again, finally, school's been very busy lately so I haven't been able to read or write that much but I have a story!

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"Isn't it a wonderful day!"

Meaningless grunts.

"So sunny outside!"

More grunts

"Darling open your mouth when you're speaking. All the birds are singing! The sky is blue..."

Bulma suddenly shook off her sleepiness and caught her father's eye as he also was now uncharacteristically alert for a Sunday morning. Mrs Briefs only talked like this for one reason. This was bad. Bulma and her father quickly scanned the room looking for an escape route or a way to head Mrs Briefs off before she said those dreaded words but they were too late.

"How about we go for a nice family picnic?!"

Mr Briefs visibly flinched.

"Uhh... no dear, I'm sorry but I really can't afford the day off at the moment... I have some, um, urgent paper work to do."

Bulma sighed. Her father had always been a poor liar.

"Nonsense darling! You never work on a Sunday."

"Uh mum... I already said I'd meet um... Jackie at the mall."

Mrs Briefs raised a skeptical eyebrow at her and she inwardly cursed. Her father might have given her his brains but he had also passed on his poor lying skills.

"No excuses! We are going to have a family picnic! And you WILL enjoy it."

It was truely amazing to watch Mrs Briefs turn from a bumbling airhead into a strict, angry woman who could make grown men cower- her father being living proof of that fact. Bulma and her father exchanged nervous, resigned looks and nodded. They both sprang into action at once.

Bulma sprinted to the door only to find it locked and unbudging no matter how hard she tugged. She began banging fruitlessly on it in the hope it would give way. Mr Briefs hadn't bothered trying the door but had instead headed straight for the nearest window. It would have worked... if he didn't have an extremely round gut which made him become stuck half-way to freedom.

So now, two hours later, the Briefs were at another family picnic. Her mother sat happily under a large tree make daisy chains which Bulma would be expected to wear while her father was sitting looking very unhappy as his skin turned bright pink from the sun's rays while he read the newspaper.

Bulma sighed and walked off to find her familiar hiding place in one of the nearby fields. She always came to hide here away from the "fun" of the picnic. Her father would be cranky for days with his sunburn and her mother would be keen to relieve the many "highlights" of her day for weeks on end. Oh the joy of the family picnic! However, on a more positive note, the picnic did give her the opportunity for her to read some more of the library book she had gotten out only a few days previously.

Walking into the edge of a large field, she settled herself down in the long grass where she was completely hidden from view and engrossed herself in the story. She hadn't read very far yet but it was a fascinating book with everything a girl could want. A dark, handsome prince seeking revenge against an evil tyrant who had destroyed his home while making his way across the planet and coming into contact with many people and creatures. The story was a fantastic read.

Bulma read on happily for a few minutes as Prince Vegeta continued his adventures but when Bulma turned the page to read more the book stopped. Bulma stared blankly at the empty page for a few moments before it struck her. It had to be a typo. But she flicked through pages and pages without finding a single word and became very frustrated. Why would somebody make a book that didn't finish? Why would someone leave pages and pages of book unwritten on?

She threw the book on the ground and lay back on the grass. Picnic days sucked. Books sucked. She threw the book an angry look as if her anger would somehow write the rest of the book. Bulma did a double take and sat up staring at the front cover. The look of anger was quickly replaced with a look of shock.

On the front of the book the picture had moved. The prince had moved. Only a tiny bit to the right but he had definately moved from his previous position. Bulma shook her head. She had to be imagining it, pictures can't move. Bulma reached out and touched the image of the prince and just about had a heart attack. The prince had moved towards her. Directly towards her as if he could feel her touch. His dark eyes stared at her and he moved closer and closer.

Bulma dropped the book and backed away from the advancing man which only appeared to amuse him. Closer and closer he moved towards her. He stopped and frowned, apparently deep in thought. Then he smirked and Bulma watched in horror as his hand reached out towards her, out of the book into a solid hand. It looked so... real. The prince was watching her curious face intently and beckoned her towards him. Bulma knew it wasn't a good idea but her logic had deserted her at the sight of a clearly living picture and in her stunned state she couldn't help but reach out to touch his hand.

As soon as she grazed his skin the hand lunged forward and attached itself to her forearm. She didn't regain conscious logical thinking but her self-preservation set in and she desperately tried to free herself from his grasp, pulling, twisting, turning and prising at the prince's fingers but his grip was far too tight. He tugged and pulled her forwards. She was falling... falling into the book which was eagerly sucking her into it's pages and Bulma could do nothing except let herself be dragged away.

The world around her was spinning, colours became blurred and muffled sounds reverberated around her. It all made her feel quite nauseous so she clamped her eyes shut waiting for it to end. Then the spinning slowed, the colours became objects and the sounds became silent. She fell and landed in something quite solid and warm. She was silently considering whether or not she should open her eyes when a deep voice spoke.

"You can open your eyes now."

Bulma peeped an eye open and found herself being held by a very real looking, even though it was entirely impossible, Prince Vegeta. He grinned at her and she gave a squeek of fright before closing her eyes again hoping that she was having a very realistic hallucination. She felt his chest rumbling as he laughed at her before he very rudely dropped her to the ground.

Bulma forgot about the fact she was in a fantasy world that didn't exist and that the person infront of her was just a picture that had somehow gained a 3D body. She stood up angrily and glared at the prince.

"Hey! How dare you?! I'm delicate you know!"

He simply sneered at her.

"Oh don't tell me you're all high and mighty because you're royalty!"

He simply watched her with a slightly raised eyebrow. Bulma shook her head.

"What am I talking about. This is stupid, you don't exist, this is just some really screwed up dre-"

Bulma gasped as she found herself pressed against a very real wall at eye level with a very angry prince squeezing her neck as though he were longing to snap it.

"Don't _ever_ say that again. Ever. I am REAL. This is all REAL. You are here."

"Oh. Do you often get pulled into books by angry midget princes?"

SMACK.

Bulma flew through the air and landed in a heap. This might be a fantasy world but she could still feel pain. Her eyes filled with tears as her cheek burned. She was turned on to her back with the prince crouching over her. It might have been the tears clouding her eyes but she could have sworn that for a fraction of a second he looked anxious.

Vegeta stared down at her and she looked away. She was seething with anger. He had hit her. That bastard hit her. He forced her to look back at him and he spoke quietly although each sinister word etched itself on her brain.

"Learn to control your tounge, woman, unless you like eating dirt. You will be staying with me now. Don't even think about running away. You won't achieve anything except wasting my time and although I have all the time in the world, you holding me up will do nothing to improve my temper. Is that all clear?"

"No."

"Then tell me woman, what did I not make clear?"

"Why did you bring me here?"

He smirked cruelly at her.

"Because I can."

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Sooo... what did you think? Kind of a dark Aha/Alice in Wonderland thing happening.

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! Sorry about the time between updates! Thanks to Morgain Croix, The General of Darkness, Musette Fujiwara and rae for reviewing. And I always forget so...

I do not own DBZ or any of the characters from DBZ!

And I'm using brackets because the little star things never come up on here for some reason.

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(Sniff)

Bulma and the prince walked along in complete silence which was puntuated occasionally with a sniff from Bulma. Her check was throbbing with pain and swollen beyond belief. She was starting to wonder if he'd broken her check bone and if perhaps she was lucky to have gotten off with only a slap.

(Sniff)

"Woman stop snivilling or I will give you something to really cry about!"

Vegeta stared threateningly at her and Bulma backed away, tripping over herself in her hurry.

"I-I'm sorry! Don't touch me!"

He frowned and bent towards her. Bulma gave a sob of fright and curled into a ball, covering her face but he pulled her hands away. She closed her eyes waiting for another blow but he simply turned her head to the side and ran a finger over her check, inspecting his handy work. She flinched and tried to pull away but was pulled back roughly.

"Woman it's not that bad."

Bulma silently fumed.

_Not that bad my arse!_

Vegeta seemed to know what she hadn't said out loud and let out a snort of contempt, lifting her to her feet.

"Oh that's right, I forgot, you're _delicate_."

"..."

"Not talking now? Good, now if you stop with your crying then we won't have any problems, will we?"

"..."

They walked on in complete silence. It was really tempting to sniff just to piss him off but she decided she liked her face the way it was or at least, the way it usually was. She could feel Vegeta staring at her but purposefully made sure their eyes didn't meet. Every time she even thought of him she had the overwhelming urge to hit something. How the hell could she have been so stupid?

_Hmm... a moving picture and you decide it's a good idea to touch it?!_

"Woman, we are here."

Bulma scanned the area.

"Uh... where?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes and pointed to a nearby cave that was semi hidden in the bushes. Bulma looked at the cave. She looked at Vegeta. Vegeta looked at her. Bulma raised an eyebrow. Vegeta frowned.

"I suppose you thought that because I'm a prince I'd have somewhere fancy to stay? A palace? A castle with a moat and a dragon to guard it perhaps?"

"No I didn't, I know you're an outcast," Vegeta frowned so deeply that if his eyebrows lowered any more they'd become a moustache. "And that you live constantly on the move but a cave?"

"Just get in the cave woman. It's only for the night."

"Just tonight? Where are we going?"

"To see Kakkarot."

"Who?"

"Kakkarot."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not a reason!"

"Woman, shut up!"

Bulma turned and stormed off to the cave. It was tiny. She couldn't stand up straight and she knew if she were to lie down she would only just fit her feet inside. She turned around to leave.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Vegeta was by her side in an instant looking around wildly for the cause of Bulma's screaming, ready to get rid of whatever was causing her such distress. Bulma jumped behind Vegeta trying to use him as a human shield. He spun around.

"Woman! What the hell are you screaming about?!"

Bulma looked horrified and screamed even louder. Vegeta looked over his shoulder and the source of her terror became clear.

"Oh for god sake! It's just a spider!"

"Just a- just a spider?! No this- " Bulma drew a tiny circle "-this is a spider. This- " Bulma drew a huge circle "-is a monster!!!"

The spider in question began to move towards them. Bulma shrieked and dived behind Vegeta. Vegeta seemed to have an irritating twitch beside his mouth. Then to her astonishment he began to laugh. Really laughing. He doubled over as if all the laughing was unnatural and causing him pain. But he stopped when he saw Bulma was once again close to tears.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. I'll get rid of it."

Bulma averted her gaze as he killed the spider/monster. When she heard a crunching sound she looked back. Vegeta was now sitting beside her happily pulling it apart. Bulma opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing when he snapped off a leg and began gnawing at the flesh. She shut her mouth and tried not to start dry retching. He continued to eat for several minutes before noticing Bulma staring at him. His mouth was full but being polite he waved a leg at her, offering her some. Bulma shook her head furiously, not currently being able to utter a word. Swallowing hugely, he smirked at her.

"Come on. If it's good enough for me it should be good enough for you." He ripped out one of the creature's eyes. "All of the best bits are still left."

Bulma couldn't help it. She ran out of the cave and threw up in the bushes and didn't go back in. Instead she sat outside miserably reflecting on her day.

_What the hell is this place? More importantly, how the hell am I going to get back out? Mum and Dad must be worried sick... or rather Dad will be worried sick and Mum will be absolutely hysterical. Damn Vegeta. I'm pretty much at his mercy here and he won't tell me anything. Perhaps this Kakkarot will be able to tell me more..._

"Woman, get back in here."

"Are you finished eating?"

"Yes and let me tell you, you have no idea what you missed out on."

Bulma walked back in to find Vegeta reclining lazily beside a pile of bones. He had eaten absolutely everything and she wasn't sure if she should be glad or disgusted.

"Come here."

She sat down by the Prince. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his chest so they were lying side by side.

"What are you doing?!"

"Going to sleep and so are you. We need to leave early tomorrow."

"Fine but you don't need to squash me!"

"Actually I do. I can't have you running off in the night now can I?"

"I won't!"

Vegeta snorted in disbelief.

"I don't believe you. Now be quiet."

"I didn't run off before!"

"I know. But I would have known if you had."

"That's not- how could you have known?"

"I have my ways."

"VEGETA! Enough! I want to know what the hell is going on! How did I get here, why are you... alive, why are there giant spiders and most importantly, how do I get out?!"

"Those are very selfish questions. Perhaps if you had asked me why I am in here, why I am stuck here and how do WE get out I'd be willing to tell you."

"Fine! Why are you in her-"

"No! It's too late now woman."

Bulma resisted the urge to kick him and sulked silently. Selfish questions! His were almost just as selfish and if she recalled correctly, she had been kidnapped by who? Oh that's right, Vegeta! But...

_How can he be stuck here? How could he pull me in here and not be able to get back out? His hand was real so why not just come completely out of the book? And why is he here in the first place?_

"Vegeta."

"..."

"Vegeta!"

Bulma's only reply was a light snore and being squashed even more into the Prince's chest.

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Hmm... well that sort of made more questions than answers so hopefully I'll be able to give more answers in the next chapter! I'll be extra motivated by a few reviews... 


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! An update! And this chapter is just answers answers answers! I had to rush a bit to get this out now because I will soon be too immersed in THE LAST HARRY POTTER BOOK! Plus then I have school exams :( so I'm going to be busy and if I don't update for ages, you'll know why.

And I forgot to mention that my summary which I didn't have originally was based on The General of Darkness' helpful idea.

Thank you to KorieJean, Morgain Croix - yes I know what you mean, hopefully this helps, Sabudabu - I love that idea! I'm going to try and use it in my next chapter, kelli, GildedSky, Musette Fujiwara - Yes he did but you'll see why, and yari!

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"KAKKAROT!!!!"

Bulma woke with a start and found herself looking at a tall man squating beside her dressed in orange and grinning at her like an idiot.

"Hey Vegeta! I wondered where you'd got to! Oooo! And you found yourself a girl!"

His grin, if possible, got bigger and he began to nudge Vegeta in an "So did ya?!" sort of way.

"Kakkarot stop touching me!"

"I just wanna know if ya-"

"No I did not! Would you do something that hidious?!"

For emphasis he turned Bulma's head to the side to show the lovely multi-coloured bruise she was sporting. Kakkarot gasped.

"Oh man! That's so not fair! Why did Freeza have to make all the girls ugly too?"

"WHAT?!"

Kakkarot smiled at her reasuringly.

"It's not your fault!"

"Why would Freeza make me ugly?! It's 'Mr. I'm so friendly' who gave me this!"

Kakkarot looked at Vegeta as if he'd sprouted another head.

"You made her ugly?! What's wrong with you!!!!"

"She was already ugly to begin with!"

"I was not! You must be gay or something!"

"WHAT!!!! I'm perfectly straight! I simply have high standards."

To make his point clear Vegeta turned away from her and stuck his nose up in the air. Kakkarot rolled his eyes.

"So if you don't like her then why are you in here with her?"

"Because he kidnapped me!"

"What? Vegeta wouldn't do something like that!"

"Yeah and he wouldn't hit a woman either!"

Kakkarot stared at her for a moment. Then he turned his gaze to Vegeta. Vegeta stared coldly back at him but his cheeks were slightly flushed. Then all of a sudden Kakkarot exploded.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Bulma backed away. These men both appeared to have very short tempers and she did not want to get hurt again. Kakkarot stood up and towered over the prince who had also stood up.

"HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP SOMEONE?! HOW DARE YOU HIT HER?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! HAVE YOU FINALLY LOST IT?! THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE! YOU'RE OUR LEADER! YOU CAN'T DO THINGS LIKE THIS! YOU'RE STARTING TO BECOME AS BAD AS FREEZA!"

Vegeta erupted with fury at the last statement, shaking uncontrollably and looking like he would love nothing more than to strangle the man standing before him.

"YOU ARE OUT OF PLACE! DON'T YOU_ EVER _COMPARE ME TO FREEZA! I ADMIT I HIT HER BUT I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT HER THAT HARD! AND I HAD EVERY RIGHT TO KIDNAP HER! SHE'S NOT ONE OF US! SHE CAME FROM THE OUTSIDE!"

The last two sentences appeared to shock Kakkarot to silence. He gapped at her for a few moments, his mouth moving soundlessly. Then to her shock he picked her up and began to spin her around, looking at her as if she were the greatest thing he'd ever come across. However in his elation, Kakkarot appeared to have forgotten that they were still in a very small cave and her head smacked into the roof of it which promptly knocked her out cold.

"Oww..."

"Oh, you're awake! Huh... uh.. sorry about that, I was just really excited and I got a wee bit carried away."

"Uhh... that's alright. Why...?"

"Oh it's just so great that your from the outside! Are you sure you're okay? Vegeta was really pissed off, look!"

Bulma opened her eyes and looked at Kakkarot. He pushed his hair over to one side to reveal a bald patch before smoothing his hair over again.

"Ripped it straight out! I've never seen him so worried over anyone!" He smirked and leaned closer. "I think he must like you!"

He looked at her, waiting for her to react. Bulma stared blankly at him. Was he serious? Then she burst out laughing.

"That prick! Like anyone?! You have got to be kidding me!"

"I'm serious! He really panicked!"

"Sure, sure, speaking of Vegeta where exactly is he?"

"Gone to let off some steam. Ripping out my hair wasn't calming enough."

Bulma giggled again before an idea struck her.

"Kakkarot, why I am here? What's going on? Why are you all here. Please tell me, Vegeta won't tell me anything! I don't want to be here! I want to go home!"

Kakkarot suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Well... I... I can't really tell you. Vegeta said not to and-"

"I don't care what Vegeta said! This isn't fair! I hate being kept in the dark! TELL ME NOW!"

"O-okay!!!! Well you're here because you're the only person who has-"

"You are the only person who has so far been stupid enough to take my hand, that's why you're here woman." Vegeta strolled into the cave looking angry. More angry then he normally did and Kakkarot looked like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Kakkarot, what did I tell you?"

"Not to tell her anything."

"Then why are you answering her questions?"

"Because... because she's right Vegeta! Why can't we tell her anything! She's going to find out eventually and you did kidnap her."

"Please Vegeta, I need some answers."

Vegeta glared at Kakkarot who looked down guiltily before turning to Bulma.

"Fine woman. What do you want to know?"

"EVERYTHING!"

"Be more specific."

"Why are you in here?"

"Because we were cursed."

"Who cursed you?"

Vegeta sneered.

"Freeza of course. I thought you were reading the book? Or did you spend your entire time staring at the cover?"

Bulma pretended not to have heard the last bit because he was, unfortunately, not entirely wrong.

"I was but it stopped half way through! Anyway, what does this curse do?"

"We're stuck here until we can kill Freeza. Freeza is... very powerful. This is the world he created and he brought us all here. We've been here for centuries and we can't escape. We can't die, he enjoys tormenting us too much. The reason why the woman here are... less than desirable is to make us too repulsed to... do anything."

Kakkarot sighed deeply at these words.

"And I'd just gotten married..."

"It's his form of torture. The spiders, well as you showed yesterday, people are afraid of them and the increase in size only makes people more terrified."

"You wait until you see the flies..."

Kakkarot and Vegeta both shuddered slightly.

"And the only creatures here are... disgusting ones. We have to eat what we can, no crops will grow and constant starvation is one of the worst sensations you can ever feel."

Bulma slowly tried to take in all of this information.

"But... how will we get out? Why did you bring me here?! How can you be stuck here if you can make your hand come out of the book?!"

"We will get out when Freeza is dead. The curse will break and we will be free again. I brought you here because in this world time doesn't exist. We don't get old. We just live. The reason you are needed here is because the only way time in here will start again is if someone from the real world is here. We are having time pass like the outside world does now but if you were to die then we'd go back into continuous limbo. The reason I was able to reach out to you is because Freeza created a window for me to be able to watch the outside world, to give me false hope. He, like myself, didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to allow themselves to be pulled through and it was risky to try. If I scared someone to much they might destroy the book and then we'd be doomed to an eternity in here."

"So... now that I'm here... you're all mortal again?"

"Yes. Including Freeza. This is our chance to kill him."

"So why were you going to hide this from me?"

"Because you seem like the sort of person who would easily become distraught and blab to everyone. If Freeza gets wind of your presense he will do everything within his power to kill you and he is all powerful. So don't you dare breathe a word of this to anyone!"

Bulma suddenly felt overwhelmingly sorry for Vegeta and his people. Now she didn't blame him one bit for kidnapping her or being so angry all of the time. She would help them however she could.

"I promise I won't tell anyone. I want to help you."

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Please Review! It will make my day! 


	4. Chapter 4

(Shuffles back onto DBZ)

Hello! SO... it's been an incredibly long time since I updated. No it didn't take me that long to read Harry Potter, I just came up with a Tekken story that insisted on being written. I'm really really sorry that it's taken the better part of a year for this chapter to FINALLY be written, please don't hate me!

Thanks to all of the awesome reviewers, Musette Fujiwara, yari, Morgain Croix, Shades of Crimson, Lady Dark Angel, Chronic Laziness and elenahedgehog.

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"No."

"What?"

"No. You're not going to help us, you'll only get in the way."

"No I won't!"

Vegeta laughed at her condescendingly.

"I won't!"

"Woman you are definitely bound to get in the way and I'm not taking any chances. If you get killed then we're all screwed."

"So what are you going to do, huh? Hide me in a cave?"

Vegeta blinked and seemed slightly put off.

"Something like that."

"You-you're kidding! If he realises I'm here he's going to come and find me and I'd rather be in danger and with you than in danger and without you."

"It's safer to hide you away idiot, or are you really in a hurry to die?"

Bulma shrugged.

"It's no better to be safe than sorry."

"Clearly Kakkarot didn't knock any sense into you."

"If there's some freak who wants to murder me then I'm not just going to sit in a cave! It's so obvious, it's just asking to be killed!"

Kakkarot shuffled nervously.

"I think she's right Vegeta."

"It's not your place to decide who's right, what I say goes."

"I thought what Freeza says goes."

Bulma just couldn't resist the smart arse comment. However that didn't stop her regretting it the moment it left her mouth. Vegeta had told her his painful story and she had just rubbed it straight in his face. Vegeta gave her a glare which promised an early death if she didn't shut up. Kakkarot pulled Bulma away from the fuming Prince.

"Bulma maybe we should um... go and get Chichi and uh... "

"She's not going anywhere Kakkarot! Go and get your wife if you want, perhaps she can speak female to this idiot and explain why she is not going anywhere near Freeza.

"On second thought, perhaps I should stay here and-"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"No, Chichi it is!"

Kakkarot let go of Bulma and practically flew away from the cave. Vegeta stalked forward and trapped Bulma into the corner of the cave. Jagged rocks were pressing hard into her back but she didn't notice as she started to panic. Vegeta looked angrier than she had ever seen him, which was quite an achievement albeit not the most desirable one.

"Vegeta I didn't mean it!"

"Really."

He closed his hand around her throat and gave it a firm squeeze.

"Really! I'm so sorry!"

"You will be woman because the way you're going, if Freeza doesn't kill you, I most certainly will. After we get out of here of course."

Bulma couldn't think of a response so she just gave a small nod of agreement. Vegeta smirked.

"It's so much nicer when you don't talk. Pleasant even. Shall we keep it this way in the future?"

Bulma nodded again and Vegeta released her and strolled out of the cave leaving a distressed Bulma alone with her thoughts. She didn't leave the cave for another two hours until she heard the sound of Kakkarot's voice and even then Bulma wasn't sure if she should.

"Yeah so Vegeta wants to keep her in here but Bulma thinks it's a bad idea, and I'd have to agree."

"That's a plan? What sort of a shit plan-? Oh nevermind. Where is she?"

On cue Bulma stumbled from the cave and into the glaring sunlight which temporarily blinded her.

"Well she certainly is pretty. I can see how Vegeta _could _like her... but Vegeta just doesn't like anyone. Are you sure you aren't being overly hopeful?"

"No, he was really worried!"

"Well I can't blame him if the first thing you do to our ticket out of this hell hole is concuss her!"

Bulma shielded her eyes from the light and stared at Chichi in disgusted fascination. The skin of her face was pink and dry but more interestingly her face was covered in large bumps which appeared to be a cross between warts and potatoes. Chichi caught Bulma staring at her and Bulma looked away feeling embarrassed for being so rude. Kakkarot turned to Bulma.

"So did you convince Vegeta that his idea sucked?"

"No."

Bulma didn't intend to sound so sullen but she couldn't help it. She was hungry, she was sore and she was more than pissed off at being bullied by Vegeta. Kakkarot studied her anxiously.

"He wasn't too angry was he?"

"He was just his normal self."

Chichi sighed and did what Bulma assumed was a smile. She couldn't actually tell as Chichi's face was capable of next to no movement.

"If it makes you feel any better Bulma, I agree with you too. The hiding in a cave plan is not a plan!"

Bulma smiled too.

"Thanks."

"Where is Vegeta though?"

"Who cares?"

Kakkarot frowned deeply.

"Well you might not like him, but Vegeta cares about you Bulma. He just... he doesn't know what to do. I'm sure once we get out of here you'll see what he's really like."

Chichi stared thoughtfully into the distance while absent mindedly picking at her face.

"You know you do have a point. He used to be quite tolerable before this mess happened. Charming even. Quite a hit with the ladies."

"Vegeta being tolerable? Charming?! That's a riot!"

Kakkarot and Chichi both ignored her.

"I suppose it is possible then dear. Perhaps Vegeta does like her."

Bulma groaned in irritation.

"Vegeta does not like me!"

"Correct woman, I'm glad to see that you at least don't delude yourself."

Vegeta strolled out from around the hill the cave was set in with a smirk firmly in place at having insulted Bulma. Bulma ignored him, staring out into the distance as if there was something more interesting on the horizon. Vegeta turned to Kakkarot and Chichi.

"Chichi! I see Kakkarot got you here without breaking you."

"See you're still as stuck up as your hair."

"Oh Chichi, your words wound me."

Kakkarot interrupted the conversation.

"Vegeta where did you go?"

"Over to Nappa's. He says Zarbon is travelling to meet Freeza. We're going to have to attack within the week."

Kakkarot nodded gravely.

"That's not a lot of time to prepare. We'll need to get the strongest warriors ready to move by tomorrow."

Bulma had no idea what the significance of Freeza meeting Zarbon was but it sounded pretty serious if they were going in under prepared. Chichi saw the blank look on Bulma's face and hastened to explain.

"Whenever Freeza and Zarbon get together there are invariably many celebrations and parties, most of which involve certain forms of _human_ entertainment. Normally it would be like having a toy that never breaks but with you here..."

"They will die. If they die, he knows we've pulled someone through. If he knows that, he goes into hiding and lets Zarbon go to town with his army, slaughtering everyone until everyone stops dying. Everyone stops dying and the threat has been eradicated i.e. you're dead. He comes out of hiding, destroys our only hope of restarting time and we live here in misery forever."

With that pronouncement finished, Vegeta turned to Chichi.

"Anyway, I've been thinking and I've decided you and the woman are going to go and stay at Nappa's."

Chichi groaned in protest.

"Do we have to? She could come to our house, couldn't she? At least I clean once in a while. That old hermit hasn't even washed himself in years."

"Yes you have to! He might be old and disgusting but he's still a fine warrior who can protect you if need arises. Plus, unless I'm very much mistaken, you both disapprove of the cave idea. Well here I am _generously_ giving you an alternate solution."

"Fine! Come on Bulma, I know the way."

Bulma and Chichi both bid farewell to Kakkarot and walked off towards Nappa's house. Bulma's complete refusal to look at Vegeta or even speak in his presence did not go unnoticed by either man.

"So what exactly did you do to her this time Vegeta?"

"Shut up Kakkarot! Now is not the time."

* * *

Please review even though I don't really deserve it!


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